Usher in 2014 with these kid-friendly apps

These apps can help usher in new traditions and entertain your little ones on New Year's Eve. (solarseven/Thinkstock)

Last week I casually asked my husband what we should do for New Year's Eve.

“A little champagne? In bed by 11?” I suggested.

“Maybe we could hit up the Redbox, too,” he said. “We'll just have to get there early so we're not left with the dregs.”

“Oooo! Good idea,” I told him.

For parents of young children, New Year's Eve isn't exactly glamorous. With kids, out went the gourmet dinners and raucous parties and in came cheeseburgers at a family-friendly restaurant and beers swilled between mopping up spilled chocolate milk and wiping ketchup off fingers.

And while technology can't babysit my children so we can enjoy a midnight countdown among grownups, it can help usher in new traditions and entertain the little ones as we wait for the clock to strike 12.

To get the party started, make sure to download these apps:

New Year's Live | iOS; $1.99
Tap into webcams located in and around Times Square in New York and watch New Year's Eve unfold at countdown central with the New Year's Live app. Catch the live broadcast, ball drop and fireworks display, and if your kids start fading early, they can tune into real-time countdowns everywhere from Transylvania to Tokyo. Amuse the little ones in the hours leading up to midnight with a virtual photo booth or play with sound effects including music, horns, gongs, bells and cheers. The party on your phone (or iPad) just won't quit!

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Times Square Official Ball | Android, iOS; free
The next best thing to being in Times Square in person, the official Time's Square ball app gives you news and updates from the world-famous crystal ball and allows you to watch the official show complete with musical performances, celebrity appearances and countdown revelry.

You can also follow and interact with the Times Square Ball on Twitter (@timessquareball), Facebook and Instagram or watch the broadcast live on timessquareball.net, where you can learn all about the history of the ball (did you know the first ball was dropped in 1907 and was made of iron and wood and weighed 700 pounds?)

Make some noise
What's a New Year's celebration without obnoxious party horns, bells and whistles? There are plenty of apps on the market for a little digital revelry – like New Year's 2014 Countdown for Android ($0.99) that comes equipped with a countdown clock or New Year Noise Maker for iOS ($0.99) that features psychedelic background graphics. Or, if you and your kids enjoy more ear-splitting fare, check out these $0.99 air horn apps for Windows Phone and BlackBerry.

Share a toast
If you'd rather not load your kids up on sparkling cider right before bedtime (because who really wants to deal with middle-of-the-night potty breaks?), try out iBubbly for iOS ($0.99), which simulates a champagne toast. Pour a drink for one or share with other iPhone/iPod Touch-carrying friends and enjoy an authentic “cheers” at midnight. Love the satisfying “pop” of opening a champagne bottle? Play the free Champagne Blast: Pop the Cork! game for Android in which you shake your digital bottle, stopping just in time to win maximum points, or practice cork popping with ChampagneShaker (free for Windows Phone) – just shake your device until the cork goes flying.

Watch the fireworks
TV fireworks are never as good as the live show – and watching a display on a phone screen is even less exciting – unless you're controlling the show. The Fireworks Touch app (free for Android; $0.99 for BlackBerry) promises amazing shapes and colors, as well as realistic sound effects – just tap the screen to get the show going. Fireworks Arcade (free for iOS and Windows Phone) allows users to play three different arcade games, create art with firework shapes or watch a preloaded show – and don't forget to shake your device for a dazzling finale.

New Year's Eve by phone or tablet might not fill the void of the party-'til-sunrise celebrations of year's past, but it might entertain your kids long enough to allow you and your spouse to kiss at midnight and come up with a resolution or two.

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